


Hope Will Never Be Silent.

by CristinaBlackthornKingson



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, Brother Feels, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Canon LGBTQ Character, Canon LGBTQ Female Character, Canon LGBTQ Male Character, Comfort, Epic Friendship, F/F, F/M, Family, Family Bonding, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Reunions, Father Figures, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gay Male Character, Gay Parents, Ghost Adventures (TV) Crew, Grandchildren, Grandmothers, Grandparents & Grandchildren, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Female Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, Little Sisters, M/M, Male Friendship, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Motherhood, Multi, New Family, Other, Pansexual Character, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Pregnancy, Same-Sex Marriage, Sisters, Step-parents, Surrogacy, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:26:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26083405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CristinaBlackthornKingson/pseuds/CristinaBlackthornKingson
Summary: In 2024 when Henry and Alex welcome their first daughter, neither of them were prepared for the endless nights full of crying, from both themselves and the baby. It makes them question if they were ever meant to be parents, until Henry finds Alex singing to their daughter, softly, in the middle of the night, and Alex finds Henry in the middle of the night, holding their daughter, playing piano and telling her all about his father.In these moments, they know everything will be okay.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz & June Claremont-Diaz, Alex Claremont-Diaz & Nora Holleran, Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Arthur Fox & Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Arthur Fox/Catherine Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Beatrice Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Catherine Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Ellen Claremont & Alex Claremont-Diaz, Ellen Claremont/Leo, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Percy "Pez" Okonjo, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Philip Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, June Claremont-Diaz/Nora Holleran, June Claremont-Diaz/Nora Holleran/Percy "Pez" Okonjo, Martha Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor/Philip Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Oscar Diaz & Alex Claremont-Diaz, Shaan Srivastava & Henry Fox-Mounchristen-Windsor, Zahra Bankston/Shaan Srivastava
Comments: 2
Kudos: 70





	Hope Will Never Be Silent.

It is a cool September night in 2024, when Henry awakens in the middle of the night. Instinctively he reaches out for Alex, but his fingers only brush over the soft black sheets, no Alex to be found. 

Groggily, Henry pushes himself up on one arm, looking around the room for his husband, but finding no sign of him. Alex’s side of the bed is empty, as is the bassinet sitting next to the bed, where their 3 week old daughter Charlotte Elena Catherine Claremont-Diaz-Windsor, sleeps.

Henry and Alex’s relationship had moved very quickly, they got married back in 2022, and in 2023 decided they wanted to start a family, through surrogacy. A Friend of Henry’s from uni, named Sierra, immediately offered to be their egg donor and surrogate. Henry and Alex were thrilled and touched by her offer, and just a few months later, they were both standing by her side in a hospital OR, watching in real time on a screen, as two embryos were transferred. 

They found out pretty early on that only one embryo implanted, and while it was saddening that the second one didn’t make it, Henry and Alex were beyond thrilled to be expecting a baby. 

After a smooth and healthy pregnancy and an equally smooth and relatively easy delivery, Sierra gave birth to a healthy baby girl, at 38 weeks, with Henry and Alex by her side.

It’s been 3 weeks now, since the birth of their daughter and Henry and Alex could not possibly be more in love with their sweet little Charlotte, even if she is currently going through a phase of waking up every hour, leaving her poor papa and daddy seriously sleep deprived. 

When Henry notices the empty side of the bed and the empty bassinet, he assumes Alex is up with Charlotte, probably feeding or changing her. He could go back to sleep, Alex and he take it in turns to get up with Charlotte, and technically it is Alex’s turn now, but Henry finds himself unable to get back to sleep without Alex at his side, so he slips out of bed and makes his way out in the hallway.

When Henry steps into the hallway, he immediately notices that the door to Charlotte’s nursery is standing slightly ajar. He takes a few steps toward the door, and notices that though the room is dark with no lights turned on, there is a patch of moonlight illuminating a spot just in front of Charlotte’s crib, where Henry can clearly see Alex standing, holding Charlotte and quietly singing to her, a Spanish lullaby Henry briefly remembers Alex singing to Sierra’s stomach, when she was pregnant. 

“ _Arrorró mi niño,  
arrorró mi sol,  
arrorró pedazo,  
de mi corazón.  
  
Este niño lindo  
ya quiere dormir;  
háganle la cuna  
de rosa y jazmín.  
  
Háganle la cama  
en el toronjil,  
y en la cabecera  
pónganle un jazmín  
que con su fragancia  
me lo haga dormir.  
  
Arrorró mi niño,  
arrorró mi sol,  
arrorró pedazo,  
de mi corazón.”_

Alex’s voice is soft and low, and has clearly entranced Charlotte, as she is gripping his thumb in her little hand and staring up at him with her wide blue eyes. Alex smiles and runs a hand over her dark hair. 

“Your _abuelo_ use to sing that song to your _Tía_ June and I, when we were little. When your dad and I found out you were on the way, I was most excited to be able to sing this to you. I hope I can be half as good a papa to you as my dad has been to me, I know I love you as much as he loves me, and he and your _abuelita_ say that’s the most important thing to give a child, love.

I can’t wait to take you to Mexico, especially when you’re a little bit older, so you can learn about our culture and heritage and see where your _abuelo_ is from, and meet your _bisabuelo_ and _bisabuela_ , they’re going to love you so much, they’ve already sent you hoards of gifts, your _bisabuela_ has knitted you so many dresses and matching bows, between her and your _Tía_ June, you’re going to be the most stylish baby around.”

Once Alex has finished speaking, Henry quietly walks into the room and slips his arms around Alex’ waist and rests his head on his shoulder. 

“I absolutely adore hearing you sing to Charlotte, it just melts my heart.” Henry softly says. Alex smiles, and turns his head to kiss his husband on the cheek. 

“How long have you been listening?” He quietly asks. 

“Just a few minutes, I woke up and you and Charlotte were gone so I wanted to come make sure everything was okay with you two. Actually I’m surprised I didn’t hear Charlotte crying.” Henry replies, just realizing that it wasn’t Charlotte that woke him, he woke on his own, for the first time in about a week. 

“That’s because she didn’t get a chance to start crying before I got to her. I got up about half an hour ago to let David out, and when I came back in Charlotte was awake and fussing, so I took her and fed her and changed her before she started crying, and now we’re just having some snuggles.” Alex softly says, pressing a kiss to Charlotte’s forehead. 

“We should take her into the bed with us for tonight, she doesn’t get as upset when we let her sleep in the bed with us.” Henry suggests. His new favorite way to fall asleep is with Alex curled up by his side, Charlotte on his chest and David at his legs. 

Alex nods, holding Charlotte with one hand and lacing his other through with Henry’s. 

“Sounds amazing.”

2 weeks later Henry, Alex and Charlotte fly to England to visit Henry’s family, and are accompanied by Ellen, Leo, June, Nora, Shaan and Zahra. 

Ellen and Leo are accompanying them to England so they can visit Catherine, who is now a good friend of theirs, especially to Ellen. Nora and June are coming to visit Pez who’s been in England for work for about a month, and Zahra and Shaan are heading to England to visit Shaan’s family. 

Henry and Alex were extremely worried and nervous about taking Charlotte on her first flight, even in a private plane where they would only be disturbing understanding close friends and family if she was fussy, they were still apprehensive about it, and it turns out they were right to be. From the moment the plane took off, Charlotte has been crying her little lungs out off and on every half hour or so, the longest she was quiet for was about 15 minutes, while she drank a bottle of milk, but the second she was done she started wailing again. 

They are now 5 hours into their 9 and a half hour journey, and Henry and Alex are trying everything they can to calm Charlotte, feeling beyond guilty for disturbing their friends and family like this, they were probably looking forward to a relaxing flight, but instead got stuck listening to a screaming baby. 

Now, as Alex sits in his seat next to Henry, holding a wailing Charlotte against his shoulder and gently bouncing and shhsing her, he notices a shadow fall over him, and looks up to see his mother looking at him with sympathy and understanding. 

“Let me try, sugar, you need a break.” Ellen gently says, placing a hand on her son’s shoulder. Alex shakes his head, not wanting to inconvenience his mother. 

“Thanks mom but it’s okay, you don’t have to.” He says. 

“I want to.” Ellen replies, but Alex is still not convinced. 

“No seriously mom I can’t ask you to do that, it’s okay.” 

“Alexander.” Ellen’s tone is suddenly stern, a tone she has used with Alex all through his life, that he has come to recognize as her ‘No bullshit’ tone. “Give me the baby, you need a break.” Alex sighs and carefully passes Charlotte to his mother, who holds her expertly against her chest, lightly bouncing her and running a hand over her dark hair. 

“Thanks mom.” Alex sighs, relieved to at least not have Charlotte screaming directly in his ear. 

“That’s alright, you were the fussiest baby, cried all the time just like Charlotte, I’m a pro at settling a fussy baby. Isn’t that right sugar, huh? What’s got you so upset sweet little thing? You don’t like how the change in air pressure is making your little ears feel huh? Poor baby.” As Ellen softly coos to Charlotte, holding her with one arm and rubbing soothing circles on her back with the other, Charlotte’s cries die down and taper off as she blinks up at her grandmother, seemingly entranced by her voice. 

“Oh my god.” Alex quietly says, daring to get his hopes up that Charlotte has settled once and for all. Ellen smirks proudly. 

“Told you I’m a pro at settling fussy babies.” However, just as these words leave her mouth, Charlotte scrunches her face up and starts to wail again, and no amount of soft talking, rocking and bouncing from Ellen, will calm her.

“Think you might have lost your touch, El.” Leo laughs, earning a mock glare from Ellen. 

“Oh shut up, I’d like to see you try and settle her.”

With nothing better to do Leo agrees to try and settle his granddaughter, but to no avail.

Two hours later, Henry is sitting towards the back of the plane on his own, with Charlotte, who is still screaming her little head off. He encouraged Alex to go take a break from trying to settle her, it took a bit of persuasion but eventually Alex agreed to a 10 minute break, and went to watch Ghost Adventures with June and Nora. 

As Henry gently bounces Charlotte and quietly begs her to stop crying or let him know what’s wrong so he can help her, someone sits down in the seat next to him, and when he turns to look, he sees Shaan sitting there giving him a concerned and sympathetic look.

“Want me to try and settle her?” Shaan offers, clearly able to see how distressed and upset Henry is. Henry shakes his head, and quickly wipes away some tears of frustration. 

“No, thank you but I couldn’t ask you to do that, believe me you don’t want her screaming in your ear.” Henry replies in a tight tone. He loves his daughter more than anything in this life, and fatherhood is the greatest thing he has ever done, but he can’t deny that moments like these are beyond difficult and make him wonder if he’s cut out to be a dad.

Shaan quickly looks around to check that no one is near, then lowers his voice. 

“Actually I would very much appreciate the practice, I’m going to be in your position myself in a few months, Zahra and I are having a baby.” He quietly tells Henry, unable to keep the smile off his face. For a moment, Henry forgets about the screaming baby in his arms, and his jaw drops as he processes what Shaan just told him. 

“Oh my god! Shaan that’s so amazing! Congratulations! When did you find out, when is the baby due?” Henry asks, conscious of keeping his voice down so as not to alert the others.

“Well Zahra found out 2 days ago but she only told me last night, it took her awhile to wrap her head around it all as we weren’t trying, but we’re absolutely thrilled. The baby’s due in early May, Zahra is already 10 weeks along, she had no idea she was pregnant until a few days ago, after she had a blood test done because she was feeling so sick and tired all the time.” Shaan quietly explains, his own mind steel reeling with the clear memory of Zahra walking in the front door, looking completely shocked, and telling Shaan she’s pregnant. 

“Must’ve been a shock for you.” Henry comments, trying to give Charlotte her dummy, which she of course refuses. 

“Yes it certainly was, but a very welcome one, we weren’t really planning on having children, but it wasn't entirely off the table either, and this baby is clearly a sign that we’re meant to be parents.” Shaan softly says, totally in love with his baby already. 

“I’m absolutely over the moon for you, and I promise fatherhood is not just holding a screaming baby for hours on end, it’s the most amazing thing in the world, I know this stressful plane journey is going to be worth it when I wake up tomorrow and the first thing I see is Charlotte smiling at me.” Henry replies in a warm tone, the stress easing slightly as he pictures the way Charlotte’s face lights up in delight every morning, when Henry and Alex go to lift her from her bassinet. 

Shaan smiles warmly, and then says

“I really don’t mind trying to settle her, as I said I’d appreciate the practice.” 

“If you’re sure.” Henry says in a somewhat nervous tone, not wanting to bother Shaan. 

“I’m sure.” So Henry carefully passes Charlotte to Shaan, who gently cradles her to his chest, adjusting her blankets around her and smoothing a hand over her hair.

Almost immediately, Charlotte’s cries begin to die down and within seconds they have ceased altogether, and she is staring up at Shaan in fascination.

“There now _ek chhota sa,_ you’re alright, it’s okay.” Shaan quietly and softly says. 

“Oh my god.” Nora loudly says in a disbelieving tone taking out the earphone from the pair she was sharing with June, while watching Ghost Adventures. “Who got the baby settled?”

“It was Shaan.” Henry grins, as his friend stands up to walk around with Charlotte and keep her calm. “The minute he held her, she stopped crying.” 

Just then Shaan looks up from Charlotte’s face, and catches Zahra’s gaze. They both share a knowing smile, and Zahra rests her hand on her stomach. 

Charlotte remains perfectly content and settled in Shaan’s arms the remaining 2 and a half hours of the flight, and by the time they reach Kensington Palace to greet Catherine, Bea, Philip and Martha (and Philip and Martha’s 2 year old, George.) Charlotte is sound asleep in her carseat.

Unfortunately Charlotte’s 7 hour scream sesh on the plane did not tire her out as much as her parents hoped it would, and she is awake every hour that night. 

At one stage, Alex wakes up around 3:00 A.M. He goes to throw his leg over Henry’s, but is met only with the soft sheets and duvet. Squinting his eyes open, Alex sees that neither Henry nor Charlotte are in the room. Henry likely got up with Charlotte last time she started to fuss, and Alex was too deep in his sleep to hear Henry leave. 

Alex knows he’s never going to get back to sleep in this big ass bed without Henry beside him, so he decides to get up and look for he and Charlotte. 

His first instinct is to check the music room, Henry’s favorite place in The Palace. 

When he arrives outside the music room, the door slightly ajar, he hears the light tinkling of the keys of the piano, and when he steps into the room he sees Henry sitting at the piano, Charlotte in one arm, playing a classical piece as best he can, with one hand, Brahms’s lullaby to be exact. 

As Henry’s fingers dance over the keys, Charlotte is totally calm, staring at her dad with her big blue eyes, absolutely mesmerized by the music.

“This was my favorite song to fall asleep to when I was little.” Henry quietly and softly tells Charlotte, pausing his playing to look down at her. “My dad, your grandpa, use to play it for me and your Uncle Philip and Aunty Bea all the time, when it was getting close to bedtime and we were still hyped up and nowhere near tired, your grandpa and grandma would usher us into the music room, and me and your Uncle Philip and Aunty Bea would settle onto one of the couches with your grandma, and your grandpa would sit here at this very piano, and play this exact song. It knocked us out in minutes, everytime. 

When I got older and became interested in learning piano, your grandpa taught me this song, and he would tell me about how one day he would watch me play it to get my children to go to sleep, he knew I always wanted children. 

Unfortunately your grandpa passed away before you were born, my sweet Lottie, and for the longest time it hurt me so much that he would never get to hear me play this song for you to get you to sleep, but then I realized something, my love. Your grandpa _is_ watching us, from somewhere. We may not be able to see him and we may not know for certain where exactly he is, but I know he’s out there somewhere, looking out for you and me and all our friends and family.”

Just a few seconds later, Alex slides onto the seat next to Henry, and lays his head on his shoulder. 

“I wish I could’ve met your dad, I wish Charlotte could meet him.” Alex quietly says. Henry kisses him softly, and quietly says 

“I do too, more than anything, but I hold comfort in knowing that he’s out there somewhere, in some kind of afterlife, looking out for us, for our family.”

******************************************************************************************

***7 MONTHS LATER***

It is a warm day in late May 2025, when Henry and Alex finds themselves walking the halls of the maternity ward once again. Though this time it’s not to wait for their baby, it’s to meet Shaan and Zahra’s newborn baby son, who made his grand entrance into the world late last night, much to Zahra’s relief as she had gone 2 weeks overdue, and by the end of it all, was sick to death of pregnancy. 

Shaan and Zahra’s friends and family had awoken to a message from Shaan, a simple one that contained only a picture of a very tired but very happy and proud looking Zahra, cradling a beautiful brown skinned and darked haired baby, smiling softly. Shaan had simply captioned the picture ‘Our baby boy.’

Everyone had been over the moon for the couple, and eager to meet the baby, and Shaan and Zahra were as eager for everyone to meet their son, so as soon as they got the okay to come visit from Shaan and Zahra, Henry and Alex dropped Charlotte off with her beloved _Tía_ June, _Tía_ Nora and _Tío_ Pez, and headed to the hospital to meet the newest addition to the family. 

Once they reach the room number Shaan had texted them, they pause for a moment before going in, noticing that Shaan and Zahra seem to be having a moment, with the baby. 

Zahra is sitting up in bed with the baby laying in her lap, and Shaan by her side, head bent as he laughs and talks to his son. 

“Our little Isaac, he’s so perfect, and I still think he looks like you.” Shaan lightly says, stroking his son’s cheek. Zahra laughs and rolls her eyes. 

“Absolutely not, he’s your twin! The only thing he got from me, is his little nose and his mouth shape.” Zahra’s tone turns light and joyful, as she gently taps her son on the nose. She never knew it was possible to love someone as much as she loves her son, from the moment the midwife placed Issac on her chest, Zahra hasn’t wanted to let him go for one second, she loved him so intensely while carrying him and now that he’s here and she can see him and hold him, it feels as though her love for him has doubled. 

“And your loyalty and dedication I hope, but maybe not your temper.” Shaan teases, earning a light shove from his wife. 

“Oh shut up Srivastava you don’t get to say shit anymore, I just had your baby.” Shaan just laughs and leans in to kiss Zahra. 

About 10 minutes later, Henry and Alex have come in and officially met baby Isaac, Isaac Ainesh Srivastava, who (just like Zahra said) is his dad’s little twin. 

As Henry stands by little Isaac’s bassinet, holding the little baby and fondly remembering when Charlotte was this small (seems like only yesterday) he turns to Alex, and quietly says something he was not expecting 

“We should have another baby.” This take’s Alex by surprise for a minute, with Charlotte being only 9 months old, plans for baby #2 are not the first thing on their minds, though they both know they want another baby, and another after that and then another and then maybe one more, or two. 

However, despite the fact that they have a 9 month old at home, and haven’t really discussed having baby #2 yet, Alex finds himself enjoying the idea of having another baby already, if they go down the surrogacy route again (which is the most likely event) it could take a while to conceive, they only have two embryos left from the IVF cycle that resulted in Charlotte, and if they find a surrogate and have those embryos transferred and non of them result in a viable pregnancy, they’ll have to start from scratch, and then pregnancy lasts 9 months, so really there wouldn’t be _that_ small of an age gap between Charlotte and her potential sibling. 

Alex grins and slips his arm around Henry’s waist, before quietly saying 

“We absolutely should.” 


End file.
